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On Holiday, Considering the Plight of Homeless Veterans

By Andrew Keh November 11, 2009 5:01 pmNovember 11, 2009 5:01 pm

Senators Charles E. Schumer and Robert Menendez joined Jack Fanous of the G.I. Go Veterans Transition Center of Newark.

There are nearly 10,000 homeless veterans in New York City, on Long Island and in northern New Jersey, according to estimates in a new report from the Department of Veterans Affairs, which also found that veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan are falling into homelessness earlier than those who served in Vietnam.

“To have veterans risk their lives for us, come home, and not even have a roof over their head is disgraceful,” said Senator Schumer, who also made an address earlier in the day at the Veterans Day Parade. “Today, as we exalt veterans, tonight there will be veterans sleeping on subway grates, in parks, on beaches, on park benches, because they have nowhere to go.”

The report stated that one out of every four homeless people in America is a veteran and estimated that over the course of the year, 336,627 veterans experience homelessness. In New York City, there are an estimated 549 homeless veterans in the Bronx, 776 in Brooklyn, 629 in Manhattan, 910 in Queens and 358 on Staten Island.

Senator Schumer said the numbers were even more disheartening considering the high regard in which Americans today hold the country’s veterans. He said soldiers returning from Vietnam were “at best ignored, and often vilified.” Today, he said, “Our veterans come home and we exalt them, as we should.”

The senators said health and homelessness programs for veterans were underfinanced and ill equipped to deal with the new wave of soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, many of whom suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental syndromes, drug addiction and other physical ailments.

The senators predicted that the numbers of homeless veterans will rise drastically in the coming years if the problem is not addressed immediately.

The senators presented their plan in three parts.

Senator Schumer introduced a bill authorizing a $200 million program to help community and nonprofit organizations expand the supply of permanent housing for low-income veterans.

The senators also announced their support for the passage of $75 million for veterans’ programs that would provide rental assistance and general support services for homeless veterans as a part of an appropriations bill for transportation, housing and urban development.

Finally the senators are co-sponsoring a bill called the Service Member Student Relief Act, which would stop interest from accruing on student loans for members of the military currently serving abroad.

As Senator Menendez said of the problem, “We need to deal with it holistically.” He emphasized that the “housing component” and the “veterans affairs component” needed to be addressed concurrently with cooperation from the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Senator Schumer lauded the recent improvements in veterans’ health care and spoke highly of the new G.I. Bill of Rights, passed last year. But he said he and his colleagues had yet to address the veteran housing problem sufficiently.

Responding to a question, Senator Schumer did concede that New York City and the Department of Homeless Services had done a good job of reducing the number of homeless veterans in the city’s shelters.

But, he added, “Our city’s budget, our state budget, our local budgets are going through the toughest times possible, and if the federal government doesn’t step up to the plate, homelessness among our veterans will continue to increase despite good efforts of the city of New York.”

When I moved into NYCHA in February 1986 veteran’s living in unsafe conditions had top priority for apartments in the projects.
Then it became AIDS patients, and then working families, and then physically challenged
I don’t know if there are any priorities anymore

#2
Cheryl
Thankfully, Upper East Side City Councilor Dan Garodnick has a dedicated office staff member in Press Relations Representative Dan Pasquini, and things are finally getting back to the safe and sane way that living here used to be.

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